Battle Creek bound

Maybe the biggest one of all was the one between Brooke Howard and Kathy Trenary after the match.

Mendon's volleyball team, fueled by an amazing crowd and a team that plays with emotion, swept their way to Battle Creek with a 3-0 win over Ann Arbor Rudolf Steiner.

When it was over, Howard sprinted over to Trenary.

"I just told her that we were going to the semifinals in Battle Creek," Howard said afterwards. "I told her that we finally made it and we aren't ready to stop."

Steiner came in ranked in the state as well for Class D, but never really got into a rhythm. It showed as Mendon won 25-19, 25-15 and 25-8. Both crowds were electric in the smaller Litchfield gym, but Mendon's side was able to hold the biggest cheers when the match was over.

"This is absolutely wonderful, no kidding, the thing about going to the quarterfinals and having our kids play in front of a great crowd is awesome," Trenary said. "To see this many fans here is great. The crowds seem to be getting bigger and bigger."

With big matches late in the playoffs come big games with big crowds. Yet, the Lady Hornets know as deep as they are in the post season, no team can be taken for granted. Now they find themselves one of just four teams left playing for a state championship.

"You can't really underestimate any team at this level," setter Loryn Baughman said. "But with our pace and style of play, it really helps us stay focused on the task at hand. I thought our defense was great tonight and it really helped me run the offense better."

The second-ranked Hornets have had a lot of expectations this season, but with each match comes greater competition. It doesn't seem to matter as the Lady Hornets don't let the opposition dictate the style of play.

Mendon was able to do what Mendon wanted to do Tuesday night.

"We just try and keep the energy up all the time," Alexis Russell said. "It definitely makes us play better and we play our best when we are having fun. We try not to let our attitude get down either, and when we play with energy it makes us better."

The first game was close early on. Steiner fell behind 10-4 early as Amanda Lovell served, forcing a Steiner timeout. A few minutes later, a Howard kill gave the Hornets a 19-11 advantage as they continued to play with a lot of emotion.

Yet, Steiner wasn't ready to just pack it in and go home. The Storm battled back to within a couple of points at 21-19 when Trenary called a timeout.

"A couple of the timeouts were all about us calming down," Trenary said. "We were hitting one ball and trying to get 10 points out of that one ball. I told them we needed to play our game."

Baughman echoed her coaches notion to calm down and play their game.

"She told us that we needed to play our own game and we had gotten away from that a little bit in that first game," Baughman said. "We needed to stop giving them points and when we play really well, it's always at our own pace. Sometimes we let the other team's jersey get in our heads and sometimes there's a bit of a reality check for how far we actually are in the tournament, so slowing down and getting back to our style was big for us."

It worked.

From after the timeout was called until the final ball hit the ground securing the win, Mendon outscored Steiner 54-23.

"We're staying on that high right now and not looking back," Howard said. "I think our energy definitely got a hold of them tonight. It seemed like the more energy we had and the closer to 25 points we got in each game, the more excited we were."

At one point in the second game, Russell served to put her team up 14-2 with an ace. Serving was a critical part of Mendon's win on Tuesday night and serve/receive is a big reason they're in the final four.

"When we find our game, which includes serving well, we play hard and don't let each other down," Russell said. "I think they (Steiner) played great, but we were the better team today."

Mendon continued to put the pressure on Steiner, getting kills from both sides of the net and in the middle from Howard and Russell. Jordan VanOss earned a kill in the second game as well, pushing Mendon to a massive 2-0 lead.

"It's amazing to have so many hitters to get the ball to," Baughman said. "Between Lovell, Brooke, Alexis and Jordan, I always have someone I can go to. I thought our passing was good tonight and our serve/receive worked well. That really paid off tonight."

The third game was more of the same for Mendon. The Lady Hornets took a commanding 13-4 lead early and rode that to a 15-6 advantage.

A Howard kill down the line, a Baughman teardrop in between defenders in the middle of the floor and a Lovell kill on three straight points forced another Steiner timeout as Mendon led 18-6.

The writing, if it hadn't already been, was on the wall for Mendon.

The lead continued to grow until it reached match point at 24-8.

Then, Baughman fed a ball to VanOss on the outside. VanOss pounded it, hitting the top of the net, but the force spun the ball toward the corner and fell in for the final Mendon point.

It seemed only fitting the way the night went for the Lady Hornets, getting contributions everywhere on the floor.

"It's kind of been that way where a different girl steps up every match," Trenary said. "It's been really nice to see and there is so much athleticism on our team that if one girl falters or has a tough game, we have other girls that pick her up and have great games."

Lovell led with 14 kills, adding one block. Howard added 11 kills, two blocks and 12 digs while Russell had six kills and led the team with seven aces.

VanOss added four kills, 10 digs and one block while Jackie Friel had 10 digs.

Baughman finished with 28 assists, but also added five kills in the match.

Mendon has reached the final four in Class D, but they have no plans of allowing that to be the end of their story.

"We're down to the final four teams and when you think about it — we started with 162 teams and now we're down to just four," Trenary said. "We don't want to stop here and the girl's don't want to stop here. We all want to keep going."

The Lady Hornets will take on Beal City Friday at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek. That match is set for 3:45 p.m. Beal City beat Waterford Our Lady 3-1 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night.

"This is awesome, it's great to get where we are," Russell said. "Now we want to keep it going."